Mommy Blogs Becoming Money Makers

Cheap, Effective Marketing

Companies will pay anything from thirty bucks to hundreds of dollars for a favorable post by a mommy blogger.

Mother of two Collen Padilla runs classymommy.com, a baby product review site, from her home in...

Mother of two Collen Padilla runs classymommy.com, a baby product review site, from her home in suburban Philedephia. She receives free products from companies and sponsorships for blog posts, and she is careful to disclose all endorsements on her Web site.

(ABC News)

It's hard to pin down just how many bloggers are being paid -- certainly not everyone is. But Maria Bailey, who specializes in marketing to moms, says her research shows about 85 percent of mom bloggers are receiving checks or freebies.

For the companies, it's cheap, effective marketing. They know that moms who read the blogs trust the opinion of a fellow mom.

"If they're a mom like me, they know my personality, it's out there. I'm there with my kids, I'm a fast talker, they can watch my video reviews with me and my children," Padilla says.

"I put myself out there, I say what I like. And I think if they're a mom that thinks that they're a little like me or that their children are the same ages or the same sex as my kids and it's a toy that my kids are crazy about, that they might like it too," she adds.

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John Abell of Wired.com says, "In the old days, they had a circle of friends you could probably count on two hands and they were influential within the sound of their voice. Now with the Internet they can have thousands and thousands of people that they influence. And they do."

But for some blog readers the practice can feel deceptive. Christine Schirmer is a frequent reader of mommy blogs. She was relying on their advice while deciding which baby carrier she should buy for her newborn.

"There was a particular carrier that one blogger recommended as being the best one," Schirmer says. "And lo and behold I recently found out that she had a paid relationship with that company and suddenly that makes a whole lot of sense."

The mommy blogging world is mixed on whether accepting payment "per post" is a good idea. One of the pioneers of mommy blogging, Heather Armstrong, who writes the blog dooce.com, has banner ads from companies on her Web site but refuses to take products or money in exchange for content.

"I have a special relationship with my readers. I had a very bad bout of postpartum depression about five years ago, and I credit them with saving my life. My relationship and my blog is based on whether or not they can trust me. And so doing that sort of thing, I think, sort of threatens that relationship," Armstrong said in a live interview with "Good Morning America Weekend."